'It Sucks!' Dak Prescott Misses Key to Dallas Cowboys Loss at Arizona
Dallas Cowboys signal-caller Dak Prescott had been the most efficient passer in the NFL in the first two weeks of the season with a league-best quarterback rating of 82.8.
Prescott in Weeks 1 and 2 of this season overcame his 2022 career-high interception woes against the New York Giants and Jets, throwing two touchdowns and taking care of the football. That changed on Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals when he was trying to bring the Cowboys back from their late deficit, getting picked off in the end zone for his first turnover of the season.
Dak's throw was off. So, we think, was his analysis of ... well, everything.
"It sucks ... it's humbling,'' said Dak after Dallas' 28-16 loss to a team that was a 12-point underdog.
OK, Dak, we're with you so far. ...
"Y'all put us on top of the world," Dak said to the media after the stunning loss. "We knew who we are. ... I'm sure the media got what it wanted.''
Wait. What? The Cowboys dropping to 2-1 is the media's fault? The Cowboys being a homely 1 of 5 in the red zone, capped by with a Prescott pick in the end zone with 3:05 left is the media's fault?
Prescott, this team's offensive leader, himself talks often and openly about Dallas being a Super Bowl contender. ... a bookend with Micah Parsons boldly proclaiming the Cowboys boast "the greatest defense in the world!''
What does the media have to do with that, beyond wrapping our fingers around tape recorders and pencils?
We also wonder if Dak would like a mulligan not only for the interception, but for his analysis of it.
Dak Prescott of the Cowboys
"(Brandin) Cooks is boom-boom getting back behind the (linebacker)," Prescott said. "'Backer did a good job of playing it. Tried to look him away and just put it by his ear. I knew it was going to be a tough throw. ... Obviously, the 'backer made a great play. Just tried to put it by his ear and thinking I had enough space to get it up and down in the back, but I got to live with that."
Dak will find it even more hard to "live with,'' maybe, when he looks at more film and sees that Cooks was not "boom-boom,'' that he was not "getting'' anywhere and that the "backer'' didn't do anything "great'' at all.
The Cowboys faced a third-and-goal from the Cardinals' 6-yard line, and as Prescott dropped back and stood in a clean pocket, he looked for Cooks across the middle in the back of the end zone.
Dallas tried to create some confusion in the Arizona secondary by having Cooks run a post route and tight end Jake Ferguson running an out route. The two crossed paths, the Cardinals weren't fooled and Cooks was tightly covered.
Did Cooks have a step on Arizona cornerback Kei'Trel Clark while safety Andre Chachere converged from the opposite side of the field? Maybe ... but there was a lot of "converging'' going on here ... and However did not see Kyzir White right in the middle of the field - and threw it right to him. Take a look ...
"Boom-boom''? Nope. "The media's fault''? Nope. The interception as "the theme for the day''? Yup, as the Cowboys again sustained a drive but couldn't finish it with a touchdown. Dallas drove down inside Arizona's 10-yard line on all four of its second-half drives but only got two field goals out of it.
Prescott finished the game 25 for 40 with 249 yards, one touchdown and the lone pick. ... and a couple of odd explanations, but did add this, this time accurately ...
“We moved the ball up and down the field and just couldn’t score,” said Prescott. “That was the reason for this loss.”
